Aftermath
by Paige Darke
Summary: The aftermath.


Title -- Aftermath

Author - Paige Darke

Summary - The aftermath.

Pairings - B/A, Connor/Paige, Cordy/Groo, Gunn/Fred, possible Wes/Faith

Rating - PG. Light this time.

Disclaimer - Ha. Ha. Ha.

Distribution - Sure. Just ask.

Warning - Angst. Like, loads.

When Paige woke up, her room was completely dark. The only light was through the window, outlining Connor's form where he was huddled on the sill. He glanced at her when she stirred, the looked back out the window, clearly uncomfortable.

"Hey."

Paige sat up slowly. "Hey. How long was I out?"

"Little over a day. It's two o'clock Friday morning." And he returned to staring out the window.

Paige sighed. "What are you doing here, Connor?"

It was dark, and his face in shadow, but she could read his flinch in the bare tightening of his shoulders. "I just….wanted to make sure you were alright. And you are…..so I'll just…..go. Yeah." He got up and walked over to the door. "I won't be seeing you, will I?"

The gypsy girl let out an irritated sigh. "We both live here, Connor, we work here. I'm not going anywhere, I have no place to go."

His hand went to the door knob and hesitated. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Connor -"

He shook his head. "Don't. Please, just….don't. I'll see you later, huh?"

And he slipped out.

Faith glanced up when Connor entered the lobby. He seemed very calm, very controlled, eyes straight ahead. She watched for a second as he pulled on his jacket and grabbed a knife out of the weapons chest. Then she stood and went over to him.

He glanced up at her steps. "Hey."

"Hey, kid. How's she doin'?"

His hands stilled for a moment, then he shrugged and looked away. "She seemed-ok."

Faith lightly touched his shoulder. "Hey -"

Connor shook his head and pulled away. "Somebody else should go up and check on her later. She - she doesn't wanna see me. I'm going for a walk."

She stared after him helplessly as he slipped out the door.

"I don't know," Buffy said thoughtfully, "that doesn't seem like a very Wes thing to do."

Angel shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "He did what he thought was right. I hated him for it, I'm still angry about it, but you can't fault someone for doing what they think is right. I just -"

"Wish he would've come to you," Buffy finished.

"Yeah. Me, or Fred, or anybody. He blew it, there."

Faith poked her head into the office. "Hey, B. Angel, Connor just blew this joint. He had a talk with Paige, and he said she doesn't wanna see him. Maybe you could talk to him when he gets back?"

Angel frowned and nodded. "What about Paige?"

"I'm gonna go up and talk to her right now," Faith said. "I figured she could use a friendly ear. He scared the crap out of her today, boss."

Angel sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll talk to him."

Faith turned to leave, but Angel's voice stopped her. "And, Faith?"

She turned back with a small smile. "Yeah, boss?"

"Thanks."

She shrugged, rolling her bruised shoulder. Damn demons. "Hey, don't thank me. I like the kids." She looked between the two of them, eyes settling on Buffy. "They ain't the only ones that got shit to work out. Right, B?" Without waiting for an answer, the dark-haired Slayer turned and left.

There was a long moment of silence. "Wow," Buffy said softly. "Faith got deep."

Angel grinned at her. "That's not the only surprise."

Faith found herself standing outside Paige's door, with the feeling that she really would be better off fighting vamps or demons than comforting one teenaged girl on a single day-long relationship which had ended in a rather spectacular fashion.

The darker Slayer leaned her head against the door and sighed. Y'know, she though, it's times like this I wish they'd never let me out.

Gathering her courage, Faith knocked lightly.

"Yeah," Paige answered, and Faith stepped inside, leaning in the door frame.

"Hey, kid."

Paige sighed and glared at Faith over the top of her current Stephen King novel.

"You know, kid, I will never understand why, with a life as weird as yours, you need to read that crap."

Paige smiled gently. "Stephen King is not crap. I will have you know that From A Buick 8 is an excellent book. And besides, I'VE never dealt with a car that was really not a car but an inter-dimensional portal to a hell dimension."

Faith nodded slowly. Yeah, that was a new one. "Heard you and Connor had a talk."

"Way to cut to the heart of the matter, Faith," the younger girl muttered. "We didn't really talk. He more…left."

"He's hurting, too, you know."

"He scared the crap out of me, Faith!" The younger girl suddenly exploded. "It SCARED me! I know Connor won't hurt me, but what about this other thing, this Destroyer? This isn't the first time I've seen it, but it's the worst! And I was RIGHT THERE, Faith, I was right there, and I don't know if he would've been able to know I wasn't a demon."

"You're still here, aren't you?" Faith countered easily, moving to sit next to Paige.

Paige snorted. "For all I know, that could've been sheer luck."

Faith shook her head. "I don't think so. He knows you, honey, both Connor and the Destroyer. They both know you and they both love you. You'll see."

Paige frantically shook her head, her dark hair in a disarray about her face. "No, no, Faith. I don't want to see him yet. Not that close. Please, don't tell him how much I scared him, but I need time to think it out."

The dark Slayer smoothed back her friend's hair. "He already knows, honey. He already knows."

TBC…


End file.
